Section 130

The Lark and the Farmer explained simply

Aesop's Fables by Aesop

Original excerpt

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A Lark nested in a field of corn, and was rearing her brood under cover of the ripening grain. One day, before the young were fully fledged, the Farmer came to look at the crop, and, finding it yellowing fast, he said, "I must send round word to my neighbours to come and help me reap this field."...
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Public-domain original

A Lark nested in a field of corn, and was rearing her brood under cover of the ripening grain. One day, before the young were fully fledged, the Farmer came to look at the crop, and, finding it yellowing fast, he said, "I must send round word to my neighbours to come and help me reap this field." One of the young Larks overheard him, and was very much frightened, and asked her mother whether they hadn't better move house at once. "There's no hurry," replied she; "a man who looks to his friends for help will take his time about a thing." In a few days the Farmer came by again, and saw that the grain was overripe and falling out of the ears upon the ground. "I must put it off no longer," he said; "This very day I'll hire the men and set them to work at once." The Lark heard him and said to her young, "Come, my children, we must be off: he talks no more of his friends now, but is going to take things in hand himself." Self-help is the best help.

Public-domain original text shown for study context.

What happens here

A lark waits to move until the farmer says he will do the work himself.

Why this scene matters

This fable teaches that action becomes serious when someone stops depending on others.

Characters in this scene

  • Lark: A central figure in the fable’s conflict and lesson.
  • the Farmer: A central figure in the fable’s conflict and lesson.

Simple story version

The farmer keeps asking neighbors for help, so the lark stays. When he decides to reap himself, she knows it is time to leave.